walking with a little shuffle and bending at the waist, with my head bowed. It made me want to giggle. I almost expected him to break out with a Yul Brynner- esque “’Tis a puzzlement!” Instead, he ignored us. But I felt his gaze hot on me as I passed him, and I flushed. Was it the act of bowing itself that had made me suddenly shy?
Destiny kept her back defiantly straight and yanked me along.
“I’m a fucking American,” she said when we were out of Robin’s earshot. “Sorry, I don’t bow.”
When we hit the dance floor Destiny went nuts, which delighted the dancing girls and watching men alike. Across the sea of women, I could see through to where the Prince was watching, his head inclined toward Fiona as she whispered in his ear. All the eyes in the room were on Destiny except for Robin’s. Robin was decidedly looking at me. I got the electrical surge that comes from being noticed, from being watched, the kind that makes your bulb glow a little brighter. The truly beautiful people of the world must live their lives buzzing with it. I looked away, but my feet were surer on the floor, my hips synced perfectly with the bass line.
After an hour of the disco, Robin stood. All the men preternaturally sensed this and darted up a millisecond later. He shook hands with a couple of them as he left the room with Eddie in tow. As soon as he was up the stairs and out of sight, the music shut off and the lights came up. All the party guests gathered in a group near the door, where Madge stood facing them, her hand on her walkie as if she was a gunslinger and it was her revolver. A few minutes later, a crackling, unintelligible voice came from her hip and she pulled the walkie off her belt and thanked whomever it was before standing aside. Everyone walked out looking tired. Even the men were like strippers matter-of-factly cashing out for the night, different people entirely than they had been a half hour before.
“What were we waiting for?” I asked Ari as we headed toward the golf carts.
“We wait until he’s left the building, in case he changes his mind and wants to come back.”
He never once came back. He just liked to know the party was always waiting.
chapter 10
T he Prince was charming, dynamic, enigmatic, a polo player, a playboy, the minister of finance. The Prince was totally ignoring me. By the end of the first week, I was still on the fringes of the Brunei party microcosm. Serena was part of the inner circle in a way I didn’t completely understand. Destiny was in a different tribe altogether and didn’t give a shit. Ari was like one of those really great retail bosses who are fun and chummy, but are still management through and through and don’t give any of the boss’s secrets away.
I was nearly halfway through my time there and, contrary to my big plans, I hadn’t gotten much of a tan, hadn’t picked up a racket, hadn’t fallen in love with a prince, and hadn’t lost a pound. Time in Brunei was slippery. As soon as you tried to get a foothold in a day it was already gone. Some days I read for hours. When I did my nails, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. The boxed set of French-language tapes I had brought along sat unopened on the shelf. Ari had helped me put a call through to my parents late one night so I could check on my father’s health, which was steadily improving, though not so much that it didn’t warrant a heavy dose of guilt. My father sounded like himself again, but slightly deflated. My mother’s voice was worn. I kept it short, saying that I was needed on the set. You know—the set of the movie I was shooting in Singapore.
On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the party lasted until four-thirty a.m. On the rest of the days it ended at three-thirty. We didn’t get to bed until at least five in the morning, and the blackout drapes made it easy to sleep until one or two. Bleary, hungover, starving, we’d stumble to the kitchen in our robes, wolf
Destiny kept her back defiantly straight and yanked me along.
“I’m a fucking American,” she said when we were out of Robin’s earshot. “Sorry, I don’t bow.”
When we hit the dance floor Destiny went nuts, which delighted the dancing girls and watching men alike. Across the sea of women, I could see through to where the Prince was watching, his head inclined toward Fiona as she whispered in his ear. All the eyes in the room were on Destiny except for Robin’s. Robin was decidedly looking at me. I got the electrical surge that comes from being noticed, from being watched, the kind that makes your bulb glow a little brighter. The truly beautiful people of the world must live their lives buzzing with it. I looked away, but my feet were surer on the floor, my hips synced perfectly with the bass line.
After an hour of the disco, Robin stood. All the men preternaturally sensed this and darted up a millisecond later. He shook hands with a couple of them as he left the room with Eddie in tow. As soon as he was up the stairs and out of sight, the music shut off and the lights came up. All the party guests gathered in a group near the door, where Madge stood facing them, her hand on her walkie as if she was a gunslinger and it was her revolver. A few minutes later, a crackling, unintelligible voice came from her hip and she pulled the walkie off her belt and thanked whomever it was before standing aside. Everyone walked out looking tired. Even the men were like strippers matter-of-factly cashing out for the night, different people entirely than they had been a half hour before.
“What were we waiting for?” I asked Ari as we headed toward the golf carts.
“We wait until he’s left the building, in case he changes his mind and wants to come back.”
He never once came back. He just liked to know the party was always waiting.
chapter 10
T he Prince was charming, dynamic, enigmatic, a polo player, a playboy, the minister of finance. The Prince was totally ignoring me. By the end of the first week, I was still on the fringes of the Brunei party microcosm. Serena was part of the inner circle in a way I didn’t completely understand. Destiny was in a different tribe altogether and didn’t give a shit. Ari was like one of those really great retail bosses who are fun and chummy, but are still management through and through and don’t give any of the boss’s secrets away.
I was nearly halfway through my time there and, contrary to my big plans, I hadn’t gotten much of a tan, hadn’t picked up a racket, hadn’t fallen in love with a prince, and hadn’t lost a pound. Time in Brunei was slippery. As soon as you tried to get a foothold in a day it was already gone. Some days I read for hours. When I did my nails, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. The boxed set of French-language tapes I had brought along sat unopened on the shelf. Ari had helped me put a call through to my parents late one night so I could check on my father’s health, which was steadily improving, though not so much that it didn’t warrant a heavy dose of guilt. My father sounded like himself again, but slightly deflated. My mother’s voice was worn. I kept it short, saying that I was needed on the set. You know—the set of the movie I was shooting in Singapore.
On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the party lasted until four-thirty a.m. On the rest of the days it ended at three-thirty. We didn’t get to bed until at least five in the morning, and the blackout drapes made it easy to sleep until one or two. Bleary, hungover, starving, we’d stumble to the kitchen in our robes, wolf
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